


The Fall of Ylisse

by StoriesShouldBeFun



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Warhammer Fantasy
Genre: Crossover, Gen, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:22:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3880369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoriesShouldBeFun/pseuds/StoriesShouldBeFun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When The Skaven of Warhammer Fantasy arrive in the country of Ferox, King Chrom can only watch as his allies are torn asunder by the invasion of the Rat-Men. Thus, with the help of her Master Tactician, the Einherjar, and the Shepherds, can Ylisse stand strong against the otherworldly foe that threatens to end her existence?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Battle at the Border

The Fall of Ylisse  
  
Prologue:  
  
After the defeat of Grima at the hands of King Chrom of Ylisse and his trusted tactician, Robin, the realm of Ylisse finally found the peace it had bled and suffered greatly for. The Shepherds were not yet disbanded however, as they led the charge clearing out the Risen from their remaining positions in the realm. For this task King Chrom maintained even the former King Gangrel in his service, as well as the dimensionally displaced Yen'Fai and Former emperor Walhart, amongst the various drifters and heroes King Chrom had met along his travels.  
  
Most notably amongst the King's subordinates however, were the many Einherjar that Grandmaster Tactician Robin had insisted on seeking out and summoning. In the span of a mere month, and with the help of the phantoms of the Hero King Marth, the Twins of Magvellian Legend, and even the Radiant Hero himself, the realm of Ylisse had now under its command entire regiments pulled straight out of legend.  
  
Grandmaster Tactician Robin then proceeded to place these scions of legend into key positions around the continent of Ylisse when troubling news arose of a new threat on the horizon. A threat that would have seemed incredulous to anyone who had not recently fought off the living dead: The Giant Rat invasion.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
The Battle at the Feroxi Border (Part 1)  
  
Commanding Lord(s): The Magvel Twins, Ephraim and Eirika.   
    
  
  
The Phantom of Lady Eirika stood guard atop a guard tower in the border fort of the Ylissean town of Seravant. The summoned Eiherjar gazed longingly into the town that stood nestled behind the fort. The sun was setting as she gazed at a traveling merchant train led by a strangely familiar red-haired woman, and she could not help but sigh wistfully as memories of previous battles fought came to her mind. Stronger still came her memories of a similar border town, and visits to a now-forgotten friend tugged firmly at her heart. A single question burned in her mind, “If all of our allies during our travels were found and recalled, how is it that we could not find HIM?”.  
  
And even then, other, much less benign thoughts burned at her mind. She was still attempting to make sense of the last few weeks, summoning her friends and allies at the behest of strangers, bringing them out of the void for what? More warfare? This was hardly the future that her allies had fought and bled to achieve. However, she was more concerned with what had occurred in the other world, rather than this one, as that question brought much dread to her.  
  
Though she had not mentioned it to anyone else in her army, the men and women who had fought alongside her against the unspeakable horrors that Grado had plagued upon Magvel, memories of how she ended up as an Einherjar in the first place seemed to resurface. Visions of cataclysms that the earthquake that had brought Grado to its knees was a mere herald of. Though she was sure not to bring it up with any of her former companions, or the garrisoned troops at the massive fort, she could not help but notice the day before during training, as Garcia, the dauntless warrior who had torn apart man and demon alike was brought to tears when a lapse of once-forgotten memory flooded him and made him hug his son firmly.  
  
These thoughts came to a close, however, when her brother, or rather the shade of her brother Ephraim, ascended the tower steps and stood alongside her, motioning for an unseen figure to remain in the shadows for the moment.   
  
“Eirika....” said Ephraim, “I know that our predicament is not at all pleasant, brought out of who knows where by a stranger to fight against the undead on his behalf.”  
  
Eirika turned to her brother without surprise, as she had heard his steps and had instantly recognized them as his, “But we have faced much worse, have we not brother? I'd much rather be concerned by the reports of the Rat-Men that the Grandmaster is sending our way.”  
  
After hearing Eirika say this, Ephraim fell silent. It appeared the weight of command had fallen heavily on him. The Risen had been enough of a challenge even for the Hero Twins, but the reports that had been sent in were all the more concerning.   
  
The Feroxi Army, as powerful as it was, seemed to have been the victim of ill luck, firstly by the war against Valm, the previous year, and now by the Rat-Men hordes that spawned seemingly out of their nation. The kingdom itself was a barren wasteland now. It's leaders were holed up in Ylisse, and their people lived as refugees in border towns such as the one under Ephraim and Eirika's supervision. Though no one wanted to admit it, it was apparent that the next targets for the hordes was Ylisse.  
  
“What troubles me brother, is that we have no idea what it is we fight.” said Eirika.  
  
“It troubles me too, that no survivors have come out of Feroxi after the seventh refugee group that got through.” said Ephraim solemnly. He spoke the truth, as after the seventh rush of refugees to cross the border, the flow seemed to stop. What was concerning about it, was the fact that their stories about the horrors in Feroxi had grown from mere night-terrors stealing children at night, to entire swarms of vermin overrunning fortifications and armies through sheer weight of numbers. Needless to say, the Feroxi army had been wiped out.   
  
“I did not come here to trouble you, my sister,” said Ephraim, chasing away Eirika's worried thoughts. He then gestured at the entrance to the tower's staircase as a familiar figure emerged.   
  
It was Lyon, alive, or as alive as he could be, and well. Eirika embraced him the instant she saw him, and exclaimed, “Lyon!” .  
  
“Eirika!” said Lyon as she let go of her embrace. He then said, “Eirika, I know you may not accept it now, but I would like to ask your forgiveness for my sins. It is too little, and far too late, but the Demon King has now lost his grasp over me, and so I feel I must aid you and your brother in your coming battles.”  
  
“Oh, Lyon!” said Ephraim as he embraced the both of them.   
  
Their reunion was cut short, however, as the guard tower that overlooked the border rang out the alarm frantically. This had not been the case even when an entire swarm of Risen had occurred. The fear in the air was palpable.  
  
“I'll rally the troops of Ylisse at the ready!” barked Ephraim, “Eirika, get the men and women of Magvel ready for battle! We're taking everyone in this fight. We cannot underestimate this enemy!”.  
  
“Allow me to aid you,” said Lyon. “I shall rally the Einherjar of Grado's Gemstones!” he said, referring to his father's generals, Duessel the Obsidian, Selena the Fluorspar, Valter the Moonstone, Glen the Sunstone, Caellach the Tiger Eye, and Riev the Blood Beryl.  Until now, they had refused the command of Eirika and Ephraim, it seemed it would take their Lord Lyon to spur them into action.  
  
(End of Part 1)  
  
  
  
  
(Start of Part 2)  
  
  
Ephraim stood at the Fort's Gate, his horse was behind him, and the men under his command, all 1,500 of them. To his side was Sir Kyle and Sir Forde was on his way back from the front lines to report. His two right hand men had insisted on staying at his side, even as Eirika had gone off with the rest of their companions to oversee the evacuation of the townspeople and refugees into the fort.  
  
“Sir! News from the front lines!” said Sir Forde, “It appears that the Rat-Horde we saw earlier was a mere straggler! The rest are nowhere to be found!”   
  
“And what of the straggler?” asked Ephraim.  
  
“Why he is nearing the front lines as we speak!”  
  
“Good, do not let it through. We do now know what it wan-” Ephraim was interrupted by a ground shaking cry of terror that was shouted by his men. It seemed as if the Rat-Man had burst in a cloud of noxious gas that turned the men in its vicinity to a bloody puddle in instants.   
  
Even as the first screams of the Ylissean men died down, they were soon followed by even stronger screams as the ground before the men in the front lines gave way to reveal a series of massive tunnel entrances that instantly began spewing hordes of rat-men.  
  
Ephraim nearly fell over backwards as he reached for his horse and grasped his spear Reginleaf firmly in his hand. “Hold fast men! The men of Renais ride with you!” he bellowed as the gates of the fort flung open and the Cavaliers, Great Knights, and Paladins of the fort rode with him through the established lanes between soldiers that Grandmaster Robin had planned in their formations.   
  
The standard soldiers on the front lines lasted mere moments against the waves of naked rats that lunged at them and tore them to shreds. A man of Ylisse was lucky if he as much as struck down one of the rats before they devoured him alive. In minutes, the Ylissean lines were compromised. The first three rows of spear-men were shattered and devoured. However, the Knights and Generals of the Ylissean army soon put a stop to the Rat-Men's advance. The claws and teeth of the Rat-Men found no purchase in the armor of Ylisse's men.  
  
Ephraim and his cavalry were soon to reach the front-lines when suddenly a shrill sound filled the air, and Ephraim saw to his horror, that a series of horrible bulbous machines emerged from the earth and began rending asunder the armored Knights and beating the Generals back even as now armored Rat-Men began tearing into the surviving standard soldiers with cruel-looking weapons.  
  
“Milord! What do we do?” bellowed Forde as the cavalry approached the front lines.  
  
“Beat them back under the ground!” rallied Ephraim as he thrust a Javelin at a Ratman that had been pushing the contraption of death. He then began to wield Reginleif, first on horse, and then on foot, as his horse had been struck from beneath him by a Rat-Man with a strange, smoking device on his hand.  
  
Now on foot, Ephraim managed to get a good look at the Ratmen and wished with every fiber of his being that he hadn't. Surely the rats in even the most vile of sewers were more attractive than this! With putrefacted faces, rotting teeth and malicious eyes, it was all that Ephraim could do to fight his urge to vomit and instead thrust Reginleif into the beast's neck.   
  
The battle went badly, as the Cavaliers that he had called into battle had marched straight to their doom before the stranger contraptions the Rats began to deploy. Machines of green fire and lightning and diseases that turned a man to rabid beast.   
  
Eventually though, it seemed as if Ephraim and his men had managed to establish a line that made for a stopping point for their adversary. It was an odd line, as it consisted solely of the most skilled surviving Generals, dismounted Great Knights and Paladins. However, Ephraim began to feel the wear of battle on both his body and his weapons. It was not long before Reginleif broke, snapping as Ephraim thrust it against the eyesocket of an albino Rat-Man. He was now fighting with a short-spear that a bloodied Forde had given him. Both Kyle and Forde were desperately fighting to guard their liege, but their fatigue began to show as well. A short time after giving the short spear to his lord, Forde was struck down as the ground beneath them quacked once again. This time enormous monstrosities arose from the ground. These were easily twice the size of an average man, but rats nevertheless. The stench they gave off made the queasier of the soldiers flinch and leave themselves an opening for the rats before them. Their mere sight and their ascend from the earth straight through the Ylissean lines made the Archers and Snipers from the castle begin to rain down arrows, and the Mages and Sages to begin raining down fire and thunder at the front lines, disregarding their comrades.  
  
Ephraim had nearly been eaten by one of the giant-ratmen, but had been saved by Kyle, who had pushed him out of the trembling ground and had been grabbed by the beast. Ephraim could only watch in horror as his comrade's head was torn off by the monster's teeth and his body swallowed whole.  
  
“RETREAT!” Bellowed Ephraim, as the men around him were mutilated and eaten by the rats. “TO THE FORT, NOW!” cried the lord as he began to run back to the castle gates as the remaining soldiers on the field, once numbering thousands, mere minutes later mere hundreds followed suit with their commander's orders and began to flee into the fort.  
  
This turn of events greatly pleased the Rats, as they eagerly gave chase, striking down the fleeing and lumbering Generals before they could even move a few steps and catching up with the weighed down Great Knights. Though it took the Rat-Ogres a few good wackings to open up the armors for the rats, though the process of waiting for their meal was boring, they found the shrieking men inside quite delicious.  
  
Ephraim was amongst the last of the men to enter the fort's gates. Mere seconds had passed after the gates shut behind him and the rats were already attempting to enter. The archers and mages on the walls did not yield in their volleys of arrows and magic, but did nothing to stem the tide of the approaching vermin horde.  
  
The lord did not waste time catching his breath, as he noticed a particularly deep gash across his ribs. It had penetrated his armor and had gone straight to the bone, with which he was quite concerned as it was slowly turning green. “Get me some clerics! The walls won't hold out against these beasts much longer and we'll need everyone to fight if we hope to survive!” He then began to collapse clutching his chest.   
  
It seemed as if the wound would be the end of him, as minutes later, even as multiple clerics huddled around him, he could feel the wound re-open instantly. This ended however, when he saw a familiar face say to him, “This is dark magic, a heal staff won't help. Allow me.” and saw to his joy that his pain had dissipated.  
  
He looked up and saw Lyon, smiling down at him, saying, “I'm glad I could be of help.”  
  
Ephraim patted his friend on the back and looked around, seeing that the Fort's surviving defenders consisted of, save for the few hundred or so surviving garrisoned troops, his entire cadre of comrades he had saved Magvel with. As well as the gemstones of Grado.  
  
“Where is Eirika?” Ephraim to Seth, his sister's fierce protector. A skilled paladin who had not participated in the battle due to his involvement in the movement of the refugees.   
  
“She will be here shortly, milord.” said Seth. As he led Ephraim up a ladder and into the battlements of the Fort, where Lute and Artur, two of the best spellcasters Ephraim knew, were desperately calling down spells on the hordes of Skaven that had since overrun the abandoned town. “She is currently tending to the needs of the refugees, she will join us in the defense of the fort soon. Before she arrives, I would show you something.” He then pointed at the area surrounding the fort. The hills on the horizon had turned black with the rats that marched across them. The defenders of the castle had been more than capable of holding back the rat swarm, but after the rat ogres began to emerge, it became harder and harder to repel the invaders.   
  
“What is it you wish me to see, Seth? I know our situation is dire, but I do not pick fights that I cannot win.”  
  
“Milord, pardon me for saying this, but you did not choose this fight. It sought you out.” said Seth before whistling and continuing as a regiment of Pegasus Knights approached the ramparts along with them. “There is no reason for you to die in this fight. Allow me and the rest of the soldiers to lay down our lives so that you may live.”  
  
The lord chortled and said, “Seth, I would not ask that of you! Besides, I we die in this world, we merely revert back to card form! I would not have you be brought back merely to fight against me. Whatever comes, I will stand by those who aided me.”  
  
The paladin smiled and then said, “Then you are once again worthy of wielding the Sacred Twin Siegmund.” as he reached for the blessed lance. And nevertheless called for the retreat of the Pegasus Knights, as this was not a battle whose tide they could turn. If the fort's defenders fell, then at least the Pegasus Riders could finally give an account of what the enemy they faced was like.   
  
As soon as Ephraim grasped Siegmund, he felt a surge of power overtake him, but he also felt the ground shake, and nearly give way as massive bell towers arose from the ground. Their gongs seemingly striking at the walls themselves as a grey-eyed ratman chanted fiercely.  
  
Ephraim was shaken when he saw the glee with which the rest of the rats chanted. Whatever they were doing, it seemed to be working. He was about to call for a retreat from the walls when he then saw from the ground arise strange green hued contraptions that seemed to be glowing. By the time he had figured out their purpose, they had already started firing lightning at the fort walls, crumbling them.  
  
  
As the walls crumbled around them,  Ephraim saw Artur cradle a wounded Lute. It seemed as if she had been struck with a vial a ratman had thrown at her. She was weeping quietly as her entire torso seemed to be turning into a puddle before her. “I....don't want to die.”  
  
Ephraim looked away and attempted to call them back from the battlements even as the belltowers that arose from the ground struck against the walls of the fort. Ylisse's remaining Knights and Generals, led by Gilliam and Amelia replaced the archers and spellcasters that had previously defended the wall.  
  
Before long the bell rang for a second time, this time shattering the wall of the fort overlooking them. The men atop the battlements were sent hurtling down into the ground. From Ephraim's position, he saw Amelia the General attempt to hold out her position alongside four surviving knights around Gilliam's corpse. This was a brave, but futile endeavor, as she was then struck down along with her knights when the lightning contraption fired at them, incinerating through their armor. He could not see Artur, but saw the position where he had been cradling the dying Lute was now broken off from the battlements.    
  
Ephraim rallied the remaining men on the battlements to stand firm against the Ratmen who were now swiftly climbing the forts walls. His fatigue was overwhelming, he could barely hold aloft his spear against the enemy as the first ratman sprung out at the men. After the first rat fell, a dozen more took his place, and consequently dozens more appeared.  
  
The battle, needless to say, was not going in Ephraim's favor, he reasoned as he spun around Siegmund atop his head and sent it crashing down into the face of one of the red-armored rats. At least up here it was a direct battle. Perhaps they would win this battle after all.  
  
This thought was cut short by a massive explosion on the main gate. It appeared that due to the absence of archers, the beasts managed to get creative about their strategies. The walls shook once more and came tumbling down. If Ephraim had to give the rats credit, he began to reason as he desperately climbed the debris of the falling walls, it had to be their disregard for their allies, their eagerness and their resourcefulness.   
  
Ephraim was tired, and desperate. As he reached the entrance to the fort, he could hear the sounds of a battle inside. The beasts had breached their defenses. He only hoped Eirika was still alive. He grasped for the doorframe to support himself and catch his breath, but his hand caught only matted fur, and he then felt an intense pain as it was bitten off.   
  
Ephraim was still attempting to make sense over the loss of his arm as the hooded rats that had been waiting for him tore into their quarry with their knifes. Swords may have been weak to lances, but Ephraim was in no position to fight back.  In no time at all, the Rat's blades were wet with delicious royal blood, and they began to argue amongst themselves over who got to keep the shiny spear, and who got to eat the tasty man. They decided tho break the spear in three to share it, and split the tasty man in two amongst the rat who had killed him first. The weakest rat could have the not-so-tasty red haired man-who-protected-tasty-man to himself.  
  
(End of Part 2)  
  
  
(Start of Part 3)  
  
The surviving soldiers that were inside of the fort were uneasy, and rightly so. The few survivors of the battle that had been headed by Ephraim  had seen what could only be described as the stuff of nightmares. Their bouts against the Risen had been terrifying, for sure, but the Risen at least did not EAT your comrades as soon as they were struck down. Needless to say, the morale of the Ylissean men was weakened, to say the least.  
  
As Eirika paced through the fort's courtyard a few minutes before the walls came tumbling down, she began to assess the remaining strength her forces had. With her numbers consisting solely of the few archers and mages who had left the walls in fear after the Rat-Beasts had thrown their vials of fumes, the surviving great knights and paladins from the battle outside, all now dismounted, and the two squads of Pegasus Knights that had not been sent back to the capitol, Eirika was not at all confident in their chances of surviving, much less protecting the fort's keep that stood at the center of the courtyard.   
  
Her spirits rose, however, as she saw the emergence of her friend Lyon from the corridor that led to the barracks. After the men had fled from the fort's interiors, claiming that dark shadows had claimed the corridors, Eirika had been forced to call the soldiers out from the inside of the fort's perimeter shortly after her brother had arrived. This had resulted in an increased disability to ward off the approaching rat-men. At first, she had sent her friend L'Arachel and her two henchmen, Dozla and Rennac to investigate before tending to the needs of the hidden townspeople but did not hear back from them  after returning. Having assumed the worst, Lyon and his gemstones took it upon themselves to clear out the fort and rescue L'Arachel if possible.   
  
Her spirits fell as quickly as they rose however, when she saw the state in which Lyon and his men were in on their return. The Prince of Grado was clutching his side in what seemed to be an unbearable pain, muttering, “T-those beasts struck as shadows!”, and the rest of his group fared no better. Duessel the Obsidian was bleeding profusely from wounds all over his chest, Caellach the Tiger eye was nursing a glancing blow that had been aimed at his neck, finally,  Selena the Flourspar seemed to have a haunted expression as she cradled a small deck of shining cards. No other of the famed warriors emerged from the fort's interior.  
  
“What happened?” asked Eirika to Lyon as soon as he neared her position. In the distance, the clanging of the bell-towers was getting nearer, and the ground was beginning to shake. “Did you find L'Arachel? Where are your Generals?”  
  
“You're looking at them,” croaked Lyon as he grabbed the side of his belly and winced.   
  
Duessel, the Obsidian general spoke up then, whilst the surviving clerics rushed to aid Lyon and the other Gemstones. “The Rats are already inside of the fort. Not their main force, but rather what seems to be their elite. They have been striking at the officers and healers for the better part of the battle. You did well in calling the soldiers back from the fort. None of the men who remained are alive, and I cannot guarantee we cleaned out the fort.”   
  
“What do you mean? Where is L'Arachel?” asked Eirika again, desperately.  
  
Selena then stepped forward and presented three cards that shined brightly. “This..... is all we could find of her and her companions. They were right alongside the Sacred staff Latona. We could not retrieve the Einherjar of our fallen comrades.”   
  
Eirika nearly dropped to her knees and said, “At the very least, we will not be along in this battle then!”   
  
Eirika then attempted to reach out and grab the Einherjar to re-summon her friend but was stopped by Lyon, who grabbed her and said, “Eirika, we mustn't summon their Einherjar!”  
  
“Why not? We have need of their strength in this battle!”said Eirika, still reaching for the cards.   
  
“Would you call them back only for them to die again? We may not be able to retrieve their cards the next time around.” said Lyon, as suddenly the distant sound of bells began striking at the walls and the ground began to shake. What had begun a few moments before as a distant sound now filled the air, and filled the soldiers with dread.  
  
“What shall we do then? The walls won't hold out for much longer-” began Eirika as then the ground shook terribly and she could hear the screams of the men on the wall as they ran back inside of the fort, straight into the arms of the Rats that now dominated the fort's interiors.  
  
The men in the courtyard then heard frantic screams for help ring out from the fort's corridors, but no one dared investigate. Before long, however, Innes, Saleh, and Knoll emerged from the stairways that led into the courtyard along with a dozen or so archers and a handful of mages. The three men looked raggled, it was apparent that their retreat had not been an uneventful one.   
  
“Lyon!” called Knoll as he and the two others rushed to their position. “I am pleased to see you again. Free from the Demon King's touch!”  
  
“I just wish it were not in such tidings,” said Lyon. “Tell me, how fare the walls?”   
  
“Terribly,” said Innes. “We could not stem the tide of Rat-beasts from our position, the Pegasus Riders have either been sent back to the capitol or are currently under orders from Seth, and I cannot find Lute and Artur. As if that weren't enough, it also seems the Rats have already grasped a foothold. It is only a matter of time before they take the fort, probably eat us.”  
  
“What's the plan then?” asked Eirika, “Do you suggest we pull back? We've still some squads of pegasus knights and a few spare pegasi in the stable.”  
  
“That won't do. There are not enough Pegasi to transport all the soldiers and refugees. Even if we prioritize women and children, there is no guarantee they'll get through the Rat blockades. Of the past squadrons we sent out, only half made the trip. We'll need to time the departure, and make a fitting distraction.”  
  
It was then that a small, indigo-haired girl that had been standing conveniently close by then said. “I--- I could do that.”  
  
“Myrrh?” said Eirika, “What are you saying?”  
  
“I could use my dragonstone to help!” said the small winged girl. “If I can use it now to create a distraction, it may be enough to distract the rat-bests. Please go with the Pegasus Knights Lady Eirika!”  
  
Lyon then chimed in and said, “Then it is settled, Eirika can go to the capitol and tell Chrom and his Tactician what occurred here. Perhaps the next place that comes under attack may have more luck than we did.”  
  
Eirika had been about to object to the plan, but then a crashing boom came from the main gate. The Rats had blasted through it with both their lightning machines, and the success of their chants.  
  
Eirika then turned to rally the remaining Generals to action, but found only a handful of them. The rest of the present soldiers were the dismounted Paladins and Great Knights, as well as the surviving veterans of Magvel, and the remaining archers that had survived the wall. Nevertheless she and Innes quickly got the soldiers into position, even as the rat-horde came crashing through the front gate.  
  
The forces of Ylisse had only been in their defensive positions for mere seconds before the rats came crashing against them. The dismounted Great Knights and Paladins made for a lackluster shield wall, but by now desperation and fear evaporated whatever doubt the men had. The archers and mages had taken up positions atop the Fort's keep. Led by Innes, they were raining down their ordinance in an attempt to make the troops on the ground's battle easier.  
  
Eirika was on the front lines during the conflict, wielding the blade Sieglinde that Seth had given her before he had gone in search of Ephraim. The rats had been in seeming awe during the beginning of their attack, as they saw that the women of the fort fought alongside the men. This had allowed the sword mistress Marisa to break through their position and fight on the front lines alongside Gerik, the legendary mercenary. Their skill and Tethys's dancing helped make for a good replacement for mere steel in the battle line.  
  
But even the bravery of the Ylissean troops could not prolong the inevitable, as the rats began to eat away at their line, felling the Paladins of the line first, and then breaking through the lines. When Eirika saw that Gerik had been struck down, she had been about the charge forward to avenge his death alongside Marisa, but was pulled back by Joshua, who wielded his nation's sword Audhulma the ice blade. Even in a different realm, against beasts unlike anything the heroes of legend had faced, Audhulma served its purpose of slaying monsters well. Joshua told Eirika, as he brought her away from the front lines, and into the entrance of the fort's keep, the top of which held the stable for the stationed Pegasus Knights. “Eirika, you must not fall here. Report what you have seen to the one who summoned us. We'll give you a chance to escape!” Joshua then gave Eirika Gerik's Einherjar  
  
Eirika thanked Joshua before he went back to assissting the keep's defense. Marisa and Tethys were not visible to Eirika and she decided to head up the keep before her mind jumped to conclusions. The battle had taken a bad turn, the line had been broken and now only a small conglomerate of warriors that were rallying around Ross, Garcia and Joshua were holding back the Rat-Men, the few remaining clerics, as well as Natasha and Moulder desperately healing their wounds. If these defenses failed to hold, only Ewan and Colm would stand between the rat-men and the townspeople, as they had been ordered to stand back and guard the inside of the keep.  
  
Eirika soon reached the stables at the top of the keep, and saw that only three pegasus riders and a wyvern knight had remained in the vast, spacious stable.  
  
“If you are here, then the fort has fallen,” Cormag, the wyvern rider said. “Did anyone else come with you?”  
  
“I did,” said Myrrh who had followed Eirika's ascend by flight. “I'll help you escape!”  
  
“It's settled then!” said Tana, Eirika's childhood friend and Princess of Frelia, as she patted the excess space in her saddle before hopping on her pegasus. “You can ride with me!”  
  
 Eirika nodded and got on the pegasus with Tana. Her comrades also got atop their mounts and prepared to take off. Eirika then heard Cormag ask, “I take it my brother has fallen in this realm, as well as the last? Tell me, at the very least, did that snake Valter die alongside him?”  
  
“Yes, yes he did.” said Eirika solemnly.   
  
“Then Glen died content.” said Cormag as the riders began their flight away from the stables and above the doomed fort. The wyvern knight to Eirika's left then added. “My lady. It would be best that you do not look down when we leave. What you see will not be a pleasant sight.”  
  
The flight of the riders was swift. In moment, they had left the confines of the fort. Eirika had attempted to withhold her gaze, but could not help to look down as they left the stables. The sight that met her eyes was gruesome. Of the battle lines there only remained few individual warriors that were no longer holding off the massive influx of rats into the fort's keeps, from wherein shrill screams of terror were heard, but fighting for their lives as the sea of rat-men slowly overtook them. The archers and mages on the roof fared no better. For even as they desperately shot down at the courtyard, the rats were already starting to scale the keep walls.  
  
After the fliers were over the fort's walls, Myrrh, who had been flying with her own wings above them began to fly lower, before grasping her Dragonstone and taking her true form. In this state, Myrrh began to receive the brunt of the green lightning bursts, which she returned in kind with her fire breath, making significant dents in the rat's advance.    
  
This advantage did not last long however, as the Rats began to climb on the dragon's back like a sea sinking a ship. After a short time of struggling, the massive dragon changed form once again into that of the indigo-haired girl, and she took flight. This change of pace was good for Myrrh, as the rats who had been atop her fell to the ground, and the lightning machines, having been accustomed to shooting at the larger target of the dragon, proved to be inefficient at hitting the winged girl, with one of the machines even exploding, setting the rats around it on fire.  
  
This would have been a cause for celebration for Eirika, but it was only a small victory against the massive losses that they had suffered that day. As the winged mounts and their riders flew into the night, Eirika held onto the Einherjar she had managed to salvage as she began to try and make sense of the events she had borne witness to in this strange day. She hoped to find a way to put the day's events into words so that the loss was not in vain.  
  
(End of Part 3)  
  
[End of Chapter]  
  
Next Chapter: {Pending}


	2. The Battle for Samsooth (The Captain's Perspective)

Chapter 2:

 

Battle of Samsooth City (Part 1)

 

Commanding Lord(s): None. Forces of Ylissean army under command of Grandmaster Robin.

First Generation Elibean Heroes serve as auxiliary troops under the command of Lords Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn.

 

 

 

The days following the battle at the Feroxi border were difficult ones for Grandmaster Robin, to say the least. Writing the reports for what was both the famed Tactician's first major loss, both Tactical and Strategic, the loss for an entire garrisoned force of troops AND the wanton slaughter and enslavement of an entire town was an unenviable task. Recent events being a significant blow to Robin's pride, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

 

The movements of the Rat-men, had been constantly moving southward after the taking of Seravant. The next city in their path was the old city of Samsooth, whose mountainous surroundings and steep walls promised to make for a defend-able location. Recording the first-hand information that the surviving Einherjars from the battle at the border recovered, Robin decided to keep tabs on the Rat-Men's movements via pegasus knights. Not wanting to risk losing more personnel than he had already, he opted to make use of the first generation Elibean heroes for this battle, so as not to sacrifice an additional regiment should the battle go south.

 

 

The wind in the Samsooth mountain's sky was sharp and brisk, stinging the uncovered faces of the pegasus knights of Ylisse. Though few birds flew over these cold mountains, such terrain made for the natural environment for the pegasi and their riders.

 

There were around 60 Pegasus Knights in the reconnaissance company that had set out, led by their weathered Captain Mahnya, a veteran of the First Plegian war against Ylisse. Alongside them, but nevertheless removed from their overall formation rode the flying heroes of Elibe, merely three falcoknights and two wyvern lords. Though the numbers of their auxiliary forces were small, they had proven themselves in earlier raids, and each of the Einherjar fought with a strength above an entire squad of Ylissean fliers. Although at first the recon squadron had been led by the Einherjars, support for their usage and faith in their capacities as leaders dwindled when word of what happened in Seravant got out. Fiora and her companions were demoted to auxiliary troops to ease the soldier's worries.

 

The pegasus squadron had been tasked with running reconnaissance on the Rat-Men's advance through the Samsooth Mountains, as they had only recently begun to make their way towards the city. In preparation for any and all engagements between the forces f Ylisse and the mysterious Rat-men, this was taking advantage of the Rat-Men's lack of aerial troops, which Robin had noted as a defining factor in Eirika's survival in the border battle.

 

Captain Mahnya led the formation over the mountains, her pegasus fleeting over the air as if the frigid air was no obstacle to it. Gliding through turbulent air currents smoothly, she had a vantage point over the mountain range as the sun set over it. Over the distance, Mahnya could see the Rat-Men army's advance, they had little cohesion, and had many stragglers. As Mahnya considered whistling an attack formation on the stragglers, one of her forward fliers blew her air-whistle, which the knights used to communicate through the harsh mountain winds, calling her attention. When she turned to see her, she saw that a village on a cliffside overlooking the valley the rat-men were passing had ignored their summons to evacuate to the fortified city, and instead set up their own, flimsy, defenses.

 

Mahnya called down her fellow riders to descent upon the town, the radiant sight of descending milky white pegasi reflecting off the sunset, and diverting the amount of Rat-Men approaching the village to increase from a mere trickle of stragglers, to a significant force.

 

The pegasus knights were greeted with cheers upon their arrival. The villagers greeting the soldiers with open arms. Mahnya, who was wearing the regalia of command, then approached a burly man who seemed to hold some manner of importance, judging by how his fellows stood by him.

 

“You in charge here?” asked Mahnya, getting off her pegasus.

 

The man then said, “Yeah. As in charge as anyone can be in this predicament. What brings you to our village? We thought you'd forgotten about us when you holed up in the city.”

 

“We ordered an evacuation!” said Mahnya sternly. “Why are so many of you still here?”

 

“We couldn't get out in time.” said the man. “We have been hit by a plague. You'll see this is the reason I am in charge. Our elder was one of the first hit. His eyes became jelly, and his bones seeped through his skin. Too few of our men are still alive to get the women and children to the city safely. This is worse than the Risen. These rat-men fight too dirty.”

 

“I understand.” said the Captain. She then called forward her lieutenants to consult further action. Stepping away from the village representative she began to discuss amongst her comrades their next course of action.

 

“Lieutenant!” said Mahnya, calling her comrade to attention, “What news have you heard about the plague? Beyond that, have we enough Pegasi to evacuate the entire villace?” The captain had already made the sufficient mental calculations to come to her own conclusion, but she sorely wished to be proven wrong. The fact that they lacked a variety of options only made the situation even more uncomfortable.

 

“We don't, Captain. Even if we were to take three villagers each on our Pegasi, it would not be enough.” she then leaned in and spoke in a harsh whisper. “Besides, I wouldn't want to carry most of these villagers. Many of the villages have been hit by plagues our healers have had no luck at all curing. Even the most advanced staffs cannot calm their disease. Taking them to the city would be a bad idea.”

 

Mahnya contemplated her options in silence. If she and her knights left all the people behind, she would never forgive herself. Surely she could save at least the healthy villagers?

 

It was then that amidst her musings, her eye was caught by the Einherjars conversing amongst themselves. Phantoms conversing about long-dead topics. The captain suddenly had an idea then. She called them over to her position, as well as her lieutenant.

 

“I've an idea,” she said to the gathered soldiers. The footsteps of the enroaching Rat-Men beginning to sound even behind the makeshift battlements of the villagers. “We will take your healthy. Pack provisions and the bare essentials. My knights will fly you across the mountains. We cannot take you near Samsooth City. It will soon be under siege. But we can give you a sizable distance from the Rat-beasts. Enough so that you can get to Menedy and then to Ysstol if need be.”

 

“What will we do?” asked Fiora, the phantom Falcoknight who was the leader of the three legendary pegasus sisters, and had command over the two Wyvern Riders of Eliwood's army.

 

“Yours will be the most difficult job.” said Mahnya. “Whilst I lead the evacuation of the village, you and your companions must ride against the Rat-Men and hold them back from the village walls for as long as you can. When I give the order, you will then fall back and accompany us on our final departure. You must hold them off until we can do at least two runs.”

 

“Understood,” said the blue haired knight. Before taking off alongside her companions. Their takeoff making a resounding 'thud' against the ground.

 

Mahnya then turned to her lieutenant and told her, “Gather the healthy children first. I'll go inspect the walls and see how long they'll hold. Fly over the mountains and head south,” she said as she pointed at a mountain pass that while easily maneuverable in the air, was nigh impossible to traverse by foot as the Rat-Men were advancing.

  
********************

 

As her subordinates had begun to take off after rounding up all the children they could, she heard a terrible thundering sound. No doubt the Rat-Men were already nearing the village's walls. In the time after she had ordered her knights to round up potential survivors, she had then proceeded to inspect the walls. She found the village's resident hunters and still-able fighters taking up defensive positions. Though she knew their position was a doomed one, she could not resist commending the thirty or so gathered men for preparing to throw themselves against the vermin-tide for the sake of their families.

 

When the pegasus riders took off with their charges, a terrible scream was heard from soldier and villager alike as they both saw the Rat-Men from their perch in the sky. Taking off into the air herself, Mahnya opted to forego aiding in the evacuation in favor of helping the Elibean heroes thin the vermintide. What she saw made her face pale and made her nearly drop the reins of her saddle mid-flight.

 

The beasts that marched towards the village were not the mere man-sized rats she had seen from afar. But rather a detachment of monstrous vermin that stood out from their few “normal” sized counterparts. These abominations were lead by odd, misshapen (for rat-beasts anyways) figures, who stood out from both the standard rat-man and rat-behemoth.

 

Mahnya the frantically sought out her comrades, quickly finding the trio of Pegasus Sisters preforming a concentrated attack on one of the behemoths, narrowly taking it down.

 

The two wyvern riders were having much less luck. The female wyvern rider was throwing her spears around desperately attempting to fell one rat-behemoth, whilst the male wyvern rider was running the smaller rat-men through with his sword, the Killer Lance he was previously wielding jutting out of a dead rat-behemoth's head.

 

 

Her spirits kindled by the efforts of the Einherjar, Mahnya blew her whistle and called a detachment of two knights away from evacuation duty to act as her guard. Mahnya wished fervently to fight alongside the Elibean legends, rat-ogres be damned. With that, the Ylissean pegasus knights descended from the sky and the trio struck as one at one of the charging rat-abominations who had begun to finish their ascent up the cliff. The three fell upon the monster feverishly, stabbing and slashing with spear and sword. Mahnya fought as she had never before in her life. She stabbed at the monster with a ferocity that had not been present when fighting fellow man.

 

This excitement would not last, however. As mere moments after the three riders managed to behead the beast, another one took it's place, grasping Mahnya's right guard from her saddle and crushing her against the ground. Mahnya's other escort was then thrown off her pegasus when one of the misshapen figures caught it with its stick. The pegasus rider barely had time to get on her feet before being torn apart by the smaller rats as they swarmed her. Upon seeing this, Mahnya pulled her pegasus higher out of their reach, and her spirits sank. In her grief, she neglected to notice the Skaven sharpshooter that had been taking aim at her since she had first brought down the first rat-ogre, and did not hear his rifle fire (Not that she would have been able to identify it). The captain would feel an intense pain suddenly erupt from her breast as she was then thrown violently off the saddle.

 

Her pegasus made little attempts at rescuing her, as it was caught off the air by a rat-abomination soon after. Mahnya was sent sprawling into the ground, nearly blacking out from the blow, but relatively unharmed save for the gaping wound in her chest. She attempted to stand on her feet, but was set upon by rat-men as soon as she had unsheathed her sword.

 

Though she was hurt, she was still a capable soldier, and so quickly got to work keeping the rats at bay. She was a bit put-off however by the fact that for all her efforts, she wasn't doing any real damage. None of the rats fell dead, some bled, and others still took to blocking her attacks with crude wooden shields. When she finally killed one, three more took its place, snapping and swinging their swords wildly. Suddenly, from amongst their ranks she saw they were pushing out units, probably a shift in tactics. Mahnya gripped her blade to prepare to deal with this foe, but was shocked to see that what came for where were not more rats, but shackled human slaves who proceeded to tackle her and pin her to the ground. As she prepared to resign herself to her death, as the rat-men were hungrily approaching her with their weapons bared, a spear fell from the air, impaling the rat-man closest to her.

 

Mahnya looked up weakly and saw that one of the Einherjar, Vaida the wyvern lord, had come to her aid. She then felt herself be pulled up into the back part of a saddle. When she looked, she saw the green hair of the male Wyvern Lord, Heath. With Mahnya secured, the two took off quickly, just as the rat-giants were coming in to strike at them.

 

“Have either of you seen how much of the evacuation is completed?” asked Mahnya, gripping her throbbing chest. “We cannot let them through until we've evacuated everyone!”

 

“They're nearly finished, ma'am.” said Heath. It appeared to Mahna that the Einherjar were beginning to pull back. Though they were bound by the cards to follow orders, it seemed they had some level of self preservation. Mahnya shuddered, how many times did they die through history before King Chrom found them?

 

Her thoughts were violently interrupted though, when Heath's head then burst open from a bullet entering from beneath his right ear and shattering his cranium. sending the wyvern careening off the air. Mahnya knocked the lifeless, dissipating Heath off the saddle and attempted to take the reins of the beast. However, upon the Einherjar's death, the wyvern began to dissipate back into card form, falling from the sky as its wings ceased to exist. Mahnya pulled on the thinning reins and crash-landed the wyvern into the cliff-side a good 60 meters or so from the advancing Rat-Men.

 

Mahnya looked back at the oncoming storm and grabbed the Einherjar of Heath off the ground, running up the cliff, hoping to reach the village before the beasts. She looked back at the still-fighting Einherjar, but was distraught when she saw only two of them remained, the eldest of the Pegasus Sisters, and the female wyvern rider. The ratmen were no longer even slightly hindered by their opponents.

 

The captain then felt a pain in her chest. There was no way in hell her wound was not festering from the rat-men's damage. She felt her chest throb and knew she'd be dead if she didn't find a healer soon.

 

She eventually reached the village's gates, and they opened a tiny bit, just enough for her to pass through before slamming shut and the villagers opening fire on the rat-men who were following Mahnya. The captain looked around once inside, and was glad to see that the evacuation had been completed, her comrades in arms standing in the village center, searching for healthy stragglers. She rushed to join them. Her chest hurt bitterly, she coughed into the ground and felt a warm liquid eject from her mouth, blood. Not resigning herself to a pitiable death, she barked, “Healer! Now!” to her troops, calling her lieutenant over to fix her wound, as being a Falco-Knight, she had been equipped with a stave before heading out.

 

“Give me a situation report.” said Manhya as she felt her wound closing up. She still felt internal damage, but that would have to wait for another time, if she could survive that long.

 

“The village has been evacuated of all healthy civilians, and they are on their way to Menedy as we speak.”said the young lieutenant.

 

“Have any contingents of the rat-men followed them?”

 

“None that we've observed. But our own retreat seems to be a tad more difficult. The rat-men have set themselves up around the village and have aimed at the air around us. They seem to have rapid bows. The Einherjar have already been wiped out. We can neither stay nor leave without incurring heavy casualties.”

 

Upon hearing this news, Mahnya only stared at the ground, and then at her soldiers. They looked tired, but not exhausted. Though they had seen little combat today, they had been forced into minor skirmishes for the past week with hardly a full night's rest. Half of their company had already been wiped out, with the Einherjar supposed to supplant at the very least 20 soldiers each. In Mahnya's eye, her surviving soldiers were in no condition to battle, much less fly through the bloodbath awaiting them in the skies. Nevertheless she looked her lieutenant in the eye and told her to gather the other commanding officers, as she had new orders for them.

 

It did not take long for the squad leaders to show up, and Mahnya began to tell them of her plan to retreat. They would fly out of the village quickly and in low altitudes so as to distract the fire from the rat-men. As soon as they were clear they were to reach as high an altitude as possible, circle around to make a final gauge of the enemy forces, and then retreat to the city. Having said the instructions, her officers saluted her and were off to relay the orders to their squads. Mahnya hitched a ride on one of the younger and lighter recruit's pegasus, hoping the young beast could manage both their weights.

 

As soon as the orders were relayed, the riders were off. And not a moment too soon, as the walls did not last long against the rats. The sick hunters and fighters were no match for the horde, and were defeated in minutes. Only about 25 pegasi had taken off when the rats began to near. The remaining pegasus knights broke formation and took to the skies hurriedly, getting hit head on by the Skaven snipers. Of the 60 Pegasus knights who had come to the village, only 18 got through the rat-man blockade.

 

Mahnya looked down at the carnage from her position in the sky, and mourned her comrades. She pondered if the information on the new rat-men units and the villagers they had barely managed to rescue were worth the loss of her soldiers and the Einherjar in battle. That was not a question she was sure she wanted an answer to.


End file.
